well in the gulf now moving forward. the hours ahead will be critical. a live update in just a moment. overhauling wall street. the senate passes the most sweeping set of changes to financial regulations since the 1930s. this bill now heads to the president's desk but will this reform prevent a repeat of the economic meltdown two years ago? and after bad press, a thumbs down from "consumer reports" and rumors of a costly recall, a new report says steve jobs was warned that the iphone 4's antenna could cause problems. apple is expected to break its silence at a press conference later today. what should they say? we're talking to the experts this morning. the "a.m. fix" blog is up and running. join the live conversation right now just go to cnn.com/amfix. we begin with breaking news this morning. a 3.6 magnitude earthquake hit in a place that you don't necessarily think of earthquakes

hitting, the nation's capital in the last hour. it hit just after 5:00 this had morning. a small magnitude quake, but still perhaps something that people there are not used to feeling. rob marciano following this developing story from the cnn extreme weather center. there are faultlines everywhere but d.c. is not a place that you usually think of earthquakes. >> not a major meeting of tectonic plates but nonetheless there is weakness in the earth's crust just about everywhere. certainly the jokes will run amok throughout the day today getting an earthquake this close to our nation's capital with all those politicians stationed there. ten miles from rockville, maryland is where this epicenter is. 3.6 magnitude. as far as the depth is concerned, pretty shallow. three miles deep. so it was felt. we have a map that highlights, people that actually reported to the usgs to report the shaking. a little bit of light shaking felt in some spots of d.c. because it was so slal doe. but we don't expect any damage

to be reported from this. 3.6 is certainly minor but in this region of the country i would consider it to be major. we'll let you know if there are any aftershocks. we don't expect a 7.0 or 8.0 magnitude aftershock following this one. we'll talk more about this and weather coming up. >> i grew up in gaithersburg, maryland. i don't think we ever felt an earthquake there. >> good old montgomery county. >> i don't ever recall any earthquakes. >> no, absolutely. that area is what i thought to be earthquake proof but evidently not. it's been more than 14 hours since they were finally able to cap the raptured well and prevent the oil from spilling into the gulf. we've seen this live feed before for 87 days now. >> not like this. >> it is amazing to see it just look like the ocean. >> a beautiful sight. >> is really is. this is the feed from a mile

down on day 88 in this unprecedented disaster. fingers are crossed everywhere that this will mean this is finally coming to an end. >> this has held up overnight so this is promising. we could have gotten up to something this morning that didn't look this good. integrity tests are moving ahead. so far, so good. the spill appears now to be completely stopped. can that ruptured well withstand the enormous pressure that's now building up inside of it? >> ed lavendera has been tracking the latest development from the gulf coast. he's live from new orleans this morning. they're careful to say, yes, it has stopped for now. so what should we be looking for this morning? >> reporter: well, it really depends on what kind of information the experts and scientists that are in the room constantly monitoring the pressure readings from the containment cap and what kind of information they're getting. this could play out in a couple of different ways. officials have been telling us really the next step what will

happen next hasn't been -- that decision hasn't been made yet. so it really depends on what we are seeing but we do know that going into this integrity test, the longer that it lasts, it was supposed to last about 48 hours in best case scenario, the longer it goes, the better news that is. they could have easily have shut this down last night had there been any major problems or concerns with pressure readings and what kind of damage that could have done to the well casing that goes deep into the earth. so for now, everything is looking good. the fact that we're still talking about this and looking at these amazing pictures from the bottom of the gulf waters and not seeing any oil leak into the gulf of mexico says that everything is going smoothly. yesterday afternoon doug suttles with bp said that from the information that they had seen early on, was that everything was intact and that well bore and that is a key part of this process. >> all right. well -- >> we don't have any leaks, we don't have any oil coming out

that we know of. and it is the beginning. we've got another hopefully we'll continue it for the next 48 hours which puts us well into saturday afternoon. but of course, it is good to see that there's not any new oil coming in to the gulf. but wolf, i got to stress -- being out here on the gulf coast today, we're far from the finish line here. we've got a lot of work left to do. we're going to be here for a long time. >> reporter: guys, the question really now becomes if this holds, how are they going to handle this situation, leave the containment cap and let that do the work by itself. that doesn't appear to be the most likely scenario. the most likely scenario appears they'd re-open some valves and then reconnect the riser pipes and start the collection process in bringing up all of the oil to ships on the surface. but the fact that it's gone on this long, 14 hours now, is a great sign. >> it really is. we'll break that down a little bit more with our physicist that we talk to yesterday who said

there is some optimism but fingers still crossed this morning. ed lavendera, we'll be checking in with you. thanks. president obama calls the break-through in the gulf a positive sign but white house officials insist they're not celebrating just yet. the president has suffered politically from his handling of the gulf crisis. his senior advisors believe their momentum was building earlier this spring before the oil started gushing. senior white house correspondent ed henry is in washington this morning with that part of the story. ed? >> reporter: the president was giving a statement on the south lawn of the white house reacting to the fact that the wall street reform bill passed in the senate but i shouted him a question at the end about these developments in the gulf. he told me that he sees this as a positive development, but as you noted, these tests are still ongoing so the president said he doesn't want to get ahead of that. he is planning to make a statement in the morning before he heads out on a weekend vacation to maine with his family. told by white house aides that's because he's been briefed and he has been told by his senior aides that they are not certain that this is going to hold,

they're not certain that 24, 48 hours from now we are going to know for sure that the oil is still not leaking. they want to be very careful. you noted the political damage. this president has taken a beating on this. i'm told that a couple days ago when he met behind closed doors at the white house with some democratic senators, he was saying in private he felt he was getting some momentum, late march, early april after the health care reform bill was signed into law but then he said he was hit with these two "gs with quarterba with" the gulf oil spill and the greek debt crisis. so they desperately want to turn the corner on this. i talk again with a senior aide to the president. he said their latest briefings are that they still don't know if this is going to stay with the oil not flowing. they want to be very careful not to get ahead of this. the president is expected to make a statement about the gulf oil shutoff before going on

vacation. it will happen during the 9:00 a.m. eastern hour. we'll have it live for you right here on cnn. also this morning, claims of racism flying back and forth between the naacp and the tea party. this morning perhaps another shot across the battle by members of the tea party. the civil rights group is accusing the tea party of putting up with racists in their ranks. mark williams, a tea party leader, suggests it is the naacp that's racist and he's sparking new controversy by writing a satirical blog in the form of a letter from the head of the naacp to labor lynn son. aga lincoln. it reads, "freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves and take consequences along with the rewards. that's just far too much to ask of us colored people and we demand that it stop." we spoke to mark williams last night and he did confirm that he wrote that blog posting.

>> he did. we are trying to get him on the show this morning because obviously we want to know what the context of that letter is. it was a mock letter to abraham lincoln and he was writing it saying that he was ben jellis, the head of the naacp. the content of that letter is extremely offensive to a lot of americans. >> there will be some fallout to this. the extent of that we're not sure of this morning. we've been making calls to other leaders in the tea party who have denounced racist talk. we'll see what happens. at 8:30 eastern we'll get reaction to williams' blog from hillary shelton, the director of the naacp in washington. we want to know what you think of this, our live blog is up and running. cnn.com/amfix. still ahead at nine minutes past the hour, major changes are coming to wall street after that financial reform bill passed the senate. it is now on its way to the president's desk for a signature. but will it head off another

financial meltdown and what could possibly be some of the unintended consequences of the legislation? we'll be joined by the editor at large of cbsmoneywatch.com coming up.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. 12 minutes past the hour. president obama chalking up a major domestic policy victory. it is the biggest financial reform since the great depression and it's now passed the senate. you are looking at the video right now, exclusive video of the bill -- there it is -- >> we hope that's the bill. >> right. >> not just some blue box. >> heading to the president's desk for signing. this is very formal. >> it is very formal. but they like these pictures over at the white house. among the changes the new law will usher in, new protections for banks. jill schlessinger, editor at large for cbsmoneywatch.com. thanks for joining us. the question on a lot of americans' minds after everything that we've all been through is will this work. >> it was intended to prevent the next big financial crisis. i don't think it does that. i don't think it really goes hard enough on the banks.

the way you limit that exposure is to say banks can't be over a certain size and they can't take more than a certain amount of risk. they went part of the way there, they just didn't finish the job. >> because of all that pressure that was coming in from all sides. >> 2,500 lobbyists against hundreds of lawmakers. guess who won? the reality is i don't think it does that. it does do some good things. this consumer financial protection bureau will oversee the mortgage market and the credit card industry, they will have some rule making power. for us in our real lifbz, that may be a good thing. but from the big picture i am disappointed. >> i want is to ask you about that because how much do we really know about how this bill will play out. 2,300 pages in this bill but in practice, are there loopholes, are they going to be used, and are there unintended consequences of the bill? >> there are about 100 zillion lawyers on wall street right now who are looking through this bill.

some i've spoken to say there are very big loopholes. derivatives which kind of helped form the core of the crisis, these really esoteric instruments. there were $615 trillion worth of derivatives that we wanted regulated. the bill actually exempts 500 trillion of them. there are some big huge loopholes here. i promise you that wall street attorneys are looking through this bill, they have told me they are doing it, they are looking for ways to legally live within the confines of the bill but legally find their way around it as well. >> elizabeth warren who has been a big critics of the banks and banking industry, that she may head that agency. not certain whether that will happen. what's your take on whether that agency is going to be a help to consumers? >> i think anything that helps consumers makes sense of their own financial lives is a good thing. there is no one agency that looks out specifically for us. so that is a good thing.

>> we had this agency called the office of thrift supervision. >> they did really well. >> outdated thing. >> exactly. this agency does have rule making power. i want to point out this bill doesn't actually write as many rules as it tells other people to write rules. that's also a big concern to me because regulators haven't done a great job in the past so we're asking them to write 533 new rules to protect us. i don't know if they're going to do it. i think in the end when consumers have more information and it is concise and clearly articulated it is better. but in the -- at the end of the day, everybody here should know this bill is not going to do what you need to do for yourself -- educate yourself, protect yourself and ask a lot of questions. >> that leads to what i was asking about a glaring omission many say, which is reforming fannie and freddie. the government-backed mortgage giants that today have cost u.s. taxpayers $145 billion. all this screaming about the bailouts, that's $145 billion. so how do you find a way to tackle this? i know they didn't with this bill because it is complicated

without doing more harm to the housing market which is fragile right now in the broader economy. >> barney frank said we are going to deal with fannie and freddie. this is going to happen. i call these two insurantitutio the dead men walking. >> they back 50% of the mortgages in this country. >> more. $85. they have to deal with it but they aren't going to deal with it now certainly after these foreclosure numbers yesterday that say 3.2 million foreclosure filings will be made this year, will be a record. so in the year when we still have a fragile housing market they're going to punt on this. i know i've heard it in the past, congress doesn't really like to tackle really hard things too often. but they do need to fix the estate tax. that's my last little bid there. that's in honor of george steinbrenner. >> the estate tax is for a whole nother day but that's very fascinating. >> we'll bring you back on to talk about that, jill. good talking to you.

there is new word this morning that apple's ceo steve jobs was tipped off in the early stages of the iphone 4's development that the antenna could be a problem. is a recall next, an apple iphone recall? 17 minutes past the hour.

welcome back. "minding your business" this morning, you've heard about this little issue with the iphone. we've been talking about this. there is another crack in the wall of secrecy surrounding tech giant apple. bloomberg news is reporting when the iphone 4's design was still in the early phases, the company's senior antenna expert told ceo steve jobs it could have antenna problems and drop calls. apple's holding a press

conference later today and is expected to address customer complaints, including some from "consumer reports" which is not good. there is even a talk of a full recall but according to the tech blog cnet, that would cost apple $1.5 billion. yes, billion. no, there is not an app for that. just how big of a pr nightmare is this for apple? at 7:20 eastern we'll talk to eric desenhall of a pr firm. his firm has helped companies through these kinds of rough patches. >> he also has the new iphone 4. we'll get his personal take, too, on what he thinks. the interesting thing, while a lot of people are talking about how this is a big problem for apple and its image, people aren't turning this thing in this droves, they're keeping it. >> i don't want to celebrate this but it does make me grin a little bit, only because this whole thing of built-in obsolescence that tech gadgets are obsolete every year. you have to go out and buy the

latest thing. to see this little problem makes me think maybe we should put that in check a little bit. >> they're always getting better. >> that's true. >> still, things are firing on all cylinders in detroit. for the first time in 13 years, americans are happier with american cars than imports. look at the jp power survey. the top two sports cars -- chevy's camaro, followed by the dodge challenger. these are like the old-school muscle cars. ford won big with its sedans. the top mid-size car, the fusion and the large car went to the taurus. for trucks, the chevy avalanche topped the large pickup category while the mid-size went to the ford explorer sport track. >> my family's thinking about going american on the next car because they're doing so well nop. you. a hidden for hundreds of years. a rare piece of history uncovered at the world trade

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26 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. it is a story that sounds like the stuff of urban legend but it is real. workers at the world trade center site uncovered the hull of a ship pretty much intact dating all the way back to the 1700s. >> amazing pictures. we first told but this yesterday. now the big question today, why was it there? mary snow took a trip to go see

the ship up close and personal and she's here with an a.m. follow-up. >> good morning, you guys. this is truly an amazing story. this is part of the new world trade center, not the original site. construction is under way on what will eventually be an underground security center for vehicles. that's how workers unearthed the ship. at the construction site at ground zero, a rare find. remnants of a ship dating back to the 18th century. we were allowed to climb down 25 feet to the site and see firsthand what archaeologists stumbled upon tuesday. >> two timbers were pulled up by a backhoe and immediately thought that looks like a ship timber. we stopped the backhoe and started excavating with shovels and uncovered a portion of this hull and since then have uncovered the rest that you see. >> reporter: what we can see is believed to be half of a ship. marine historian norman brower was brought in to take a look. >> appears to be an ocean going

vessel. probably at some time in the 1700s. it is heavily built, very solid frames close together. >> reporter: one mystery, the circular structure that brower says may have been used as a fireplace. an anchor was also recovered. how significant is this find? >> i mean i think it remains to be seen what this ship really is but it's pretty significant. it is pretty exciting. there haven't been that many ships found in manhattan. it was something that occasionally ships were occasionally used as part of land filling, so it probably was part of filling in this land. so it's not unheard of. >> reporter: because of the history here, archaeologists have been monitoring the construction site. the wildlife conservation society shows just how much of lower manhattan was under water hundreds of years ago. compare that to now. >> but mostly it just tells us about the landfill structure of this particular area and how

they were reusing things like old boats to build out the land. the shorelines was originally on greenwich street about a block that way. >> reporter: where we're standing now at one point was just the hudson river. >> hudson river, yeah. >> reporter: the site is just south of where the world trade center towers once stood. this rare relic hidden for more than 200 years. >> this is the kind of thing os archaeologists are always hoping to find but rarely do. >> reporter: the pieces of this wooden ship are very fragile. archaeologists are continuing to excavate it, taking samples, recovering what they can. the hope is that parts will eventually wind up in a museum. >> it will be interesting to see if they can extricate it intact. >> very difficult operation. now that the pieces are exposed, this has been under the earth for how many years. 200 years. it is deteriorating very quickly once that there is now sunlight on it. >> amazing.

thanks, mary. >> digging that story. >> he digs it. you couldn't wait to say that. half past the hour. checking our top stories this morning. a new report says that apple's top boss, steve jobs, was warned about potential problems with iphone 4's wraparound antenna design. that comes from bloomberg news this morning. apple is giving a press conference later today to deal with this issue. they are expected to talk about problems with their new generation smart phone and there is even talk of a full recall. tech block cnet estimates that could cost apple $1.5 billion. wall street giant goldman sachs has agreed to pay a $250 million fine. they were accused of duping people into investing in subprime mortgages essentially designed to fail. $550 million is just about four days of revenue for goldman. just a drop in the bucket for them. the cap is holding. that's the good news this morning. not a single drop of oil is leaking, at least for now, from

that ruptured wellhead. it's been that way for 15 hours now. oil giant and the government now conducting integrity testing on the cap to see if the well is holding up under the pressure that's building inside. handling enormous financial pressure has become a way of life for thousands of hard working people on the gulf coast. but help is coming. payouts from bp's $20 billion oil fund will start in early august. they'll include lump sum payments to individuals for up to six months, lost wages. the oil giant will have nothing to do with that process, so we're told, beyond funding it. >> so how that $20 billion will be paid out is actually up to one man. kenneth feinberg. he is the same man who administered millions in settlement funds to the victims of the september 11th attacks. >> feinberg held a town meeting in the new orleans area yesterday to explain how the process will work. amber lyon is in new orleans this morning. how is this all going to work and did the people like what they heard from feinberg?

i'm sure it was a lively crowd. >> well, jim, above all, the shrimpers, fishermen, local business owners just want to know how feinberg is going to keep them from going broke. as of now, bp's been handling this claims process. feinberg says in about three weeks he is going to be completely taking over. yesterday he made a point to tell everybody that the money is there. also that he's working independently of bp or the u.s. government. feinberg says he is also going to make the process easier. we spoke about with a lot of fishermen who say in the past they really didn't know what's going on. he says now he'll cut six-month checks to these workers. in the past bp was just cutting checks on a month-by-month basis. feinberg also says he's going to try to pay out legitimate claims within 24 to 48 hours. we caught up with him as he was speaking to a standing room only group of shrimpers and fishermen in lafitte, louisiana. this was around the same time that news broke that no more oil is leaking into the gull.

there was a cautiously optimistic attitude. >> it's fabulous, because if the oil has stopped flowing, that makes it easier for us to begin to corral the type of claims. because we'll know better where the oil is going to go. >> well, i feel like i can get back to a little normal and i don't have to roll and no sleep at night and it's a big relief off a lot of people and shrimpers. >> this isn't a complete stop. we don't know how long it is going to last. when they can tap into that well and totally turn it off, then we're going to light fireworks. we're going to celebrate. >> reporter: as of this morning, none of that $20 billion escrow has been given out. feinberg says he will take over in three weeks an start doling out the money. he also made a point to give credit to bp for giving out almost $150 million, money

independent of the $20 billion escrow so far. jim, kiran? thanks, amber. we'll all watch that process unfold. here's a question for you. you are a doctor and you find out your colleague has a drug problem. that sounds like a problem. do you report him or her? well, you may be shock to learn just how many physicians say they would not do anything about that. they'd keep it to themselves. we will talk to the author of a new study next. it is 34 minutes past the hour.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. do no harm. for doctors they are words to live by but a new study suggests that more than one-third of doctors would not report a colleague who is incompetent or has a drug problem. dr. katherine deroesh is the lead author of this study, and joins us now from boston. doctor, good morning. we want to talk to you obviously about this but first and foremost, let's go over a couple of of the key findings in this

study because they are very alarming. we have a graphic to show you and our viewers. this is what your study found -- 36% of these doctors who were surveyed did not completely agree they should report fellow colleagues. 17% had direct knowledge of an incompetent or impaired colleague. 67% reported that individual to a relevant authority which means about one-third did not. i guess, doctor, what led you to pursue this study to begin with? i guess you or your colleagues may have learned that this was a problem. >> well, we wanted to see what had changed since a prior study that we did a few years ago. there is always a lot of news media coverage around egregious physician stories. we wanted to get a more systematic look at what was happening. >> what should people take away from this? should people be concerned when they are admitted to a hospital that they may have a doctor who is impaired? that's obviously the concern

that is coming out of this study. >> i think that what people should take away from this is an understanding that medicine's not necessarily going to regulate itself so if you do have an interaction with a physician where you believe that that physician may have been impaired, then you can report that physician yourself as a patient. >> how did the study define how a doctor would be incompetent or impaired? what did that boil down to essentially? we talking about drug and alcohol abuse in terms of the impaired part of this? >> well, when we talked to physicians prior to doing the survey, we asked them what they thought about the word "impaired," what that brought to mind. most of them thought about substance or alcohol abuse problems. >> so is there a code of silence in the medical profession, would you say, regarding bad behavior? >> i don't think i would say that there is a code of silence. i think that what i would say is most physicians see this as a very complicated issue and it is

not something that's easy to take on. >> right. well, i mean a lot of us -- almost all of us, i would say 99% of us have a great deal of faith in the medical profession. so what are you hoping to accomplish with this study? what problem do you think needs to be addressed here? i mean obviously you would not have put out these findings if you did not think that they were important for the public to know about. >> some of the things that we're hoping will happen are more education for physicians around their responsibilities around this issue. that it is their responsibility to report. also perhaps some changes to the way reports are made so greater confidentiality protections for physicians, and perhaps even some kind of confidential feedback system for reporters so that they know what happened to their report when they made one. >> you hear about the issue of medical errors from time to time. could this be a contributing factor to medical errors? >> well, this can clearly be a

contributing factor. most research suggests that most medical errors are a result of system failures. but some portion of those errors can be attributed directly to physicians. >> did you fine in the course of your study that people were harmed as a result of doctors who were impaired or incompetent? >> well, so this study didn't actually look at that. we just look at physicians' attitudes and behaviors. >> so what do you think should happen going forward here? do we need greater policing in this profession, within this profession? >> well, we don't really have a good alternative system to self-regulation at this point. >> that's not a good thing. >> well, what we suggest in the paper are some strengthening of that system, so more education for physicians, more confidential for reporters, and perhaps more patient education around their own -- what they

can do if they feel they've had an interaction with a physician where the physician may have been impaired or shouldn't be practicing for some other reason. >> doctor, that's a very important study that you put out. we appreciate your time this morning and thanks for sharing that information with us. we appreciate it. >> thanks very much. >> back to you, kiran. 42 minutes past the hour. rob marciano has a look at your travel forecast just in time for the weekend. also in ten minutes, find out who's having quite a hard time accepting the news that levi johnston is officially off the market. don't take the trip. or even buy the camper... without blueprint from chase. create a plan to pay off large purchases... and save money on interest. does your credit card have blueprint? design your plan at 866 blueprint.

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welcome back. it says it's sunny and 77 degrees. if that's sunny -- i hate to see what foggy is. >> clearly we're seeing some haze out there. it will probably burn off by the end of the day because we're looking at a high this afternoon of 94 degrees, and sunshine. >> it is hot in the city. welcome back to the most news in the morning. a follow-up now that has us all feeling pretty good this morning. randi kaye told us about this yesterday. my goodness, these pictures, these faces will break your heart. she told us about the hundreds of pets now being abandoned at animal shelters in louisiana. the fallout from the gulf oil spill is making it impossible for many people to afford to keep their dogs or cats.

after our story ran, you responded. yes, you, our viewers, responded. the shelters were bombarded with hundreds of calls and e-mails yesterday from as far away as hawaii and guam. now sure how those puppies and kitties could get to guam but they were all calling. >> either adopt or donate. if you're far away and just feeling like you want to do something, you can always donate. what they're trying to do at these shelters is say they want assistance right now so they can help the people who are saying they may have to give up their animals if they can't keep their jobs. they want to be able to offer free spaying and neutering and also free food donations for the animals. every penny counts. if you'd like to do a good thing, go to la-spca.org. we'll also link it up with our blog. go to cnn.com/amfix for more on how to lend a hand. moving on to a very different subject here, but one that we've also been talking about. baskin robbins marking its 65th

anniversary by putting the deep freeze on five of its signature flavors. what's out? if you look at their website, it's caramel praline cheesecake. not sure i've ever tried that one but it looks pretty good. campfire s'mores. that one is a shocker to me. apple pie a la mode and super fudge truffle. the biggest outrage -- this had our staff talking this morning -- french vanilla. a baskin-robbins staple since 1945. >> so are they bringing new ones online or they have to change the name to 26 flarvors? my husband's favorite apple pie a la mode is going bye-bye. >> as long as they don't get rid of chocolate chip. five flavors will be replaced by new ones, though no word yet on what those will be. >> they are going to keep 31 flavors. >> there won't be 26 flavors. >> good. time for a check of this

morning's weather headlines. i see rob as a mint chocolate chip kind of guy. no? >> not a big fan of mint. anything with a little chocolate in it. if i'm going to do a green ice cream, i think a little pistachio. the mint thing kind of throws me for a loop. ice cream will be in high demand across parts of the northeast. temperatures will get into the mid 90s. heat advisories in effect for new york, philadelphia, and also for d.c. right now temperatures are already feeling like they're near 8 88 degrees in the d.c. aa which had a magnitude 6.0 earthquake. before the cooler air arrives, we're going to continue to deal with heat. a lot of it will be across the same places that have seen it in the past couple of days. the nation's heartland, pressing down to the south. we're starting to squeeze the number of advisories today but we've increased them across the

northeast and still across parts of southern california and the desert southwest. a lot of people getting into the act with heat indices up and over 105, 110, 115 degrees. that's what it will feel like later on this afternoon. we had humidity coming in from the gulf of mexico. that will also pose a threat for seeing some severe weather. we saw a little bit yesterday and we saw some heavy rain in some areas. waukesha, wisconsin, almost three inches. terre haute, indiana. myrtle beach, a wide smattering of locations that saw some rain. double scoop always. never the single and plenty of napkins. especially on a day like today. >> it will melt before you even get to it. i thought i knew you, rob, but no mint chocolate chip from you? >> if i want to brush my teeth, i'll break out the toothbrush.

this morning's top stories just minutes away. it took 87 days for bp to finally stop the oil spill in the gulf. boy, we hope this is it. the disaster is not close to being over. so what happens next? our team along the gulf is covering this developing story like no one else can. later today we have other news. >> apple breaking its silence. people are wondering are they really going to recall the generation 4 phone? some are saying that's what they have to do to bring their reputation back online. we'll talk about it with a tech expert and public relations expert. what will the bosses say at the press conference about the antenna problems with the new apple iphone 4? >> steve jobs, can you hear us now?

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. 6:53. word of levi johnston's surprise engagement to ex-girlfriend bristol palin caught most of us by surprise. >> reportedly including sarah palin. >> that's right. >> now it seems that a lot of people are having a hard time accepting that levi johnston, the hunk, is off the market. here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: she is hardbroken over news of the engagement between bristol and levi. no, not sarah palin. we mean kathy griffin. >> my lover, levi. i woke up this morning in your arms, spooning. >> reporter: so what if she made it all up? her imaginary affair with levi is part of her comedy stick playing off his "vanity fair" photo shoot on the ledge of a building. >> i was all harnessed up. it was a little scary. >> we're going to recreate that

later tonight at my place. >> reporter: we're going ice fishing with resly. part of her "life on the d-list" reality show. >> holding levi close i realize this is where i'm meant to be. for three days. and then get me the [ bleep ] out of here. >> reporter: now she's forced to hear levi gushing about his fiance bristol and their baby. >> i love them both very much. >> reporter: no wonder kathy griffin has posted her suffering on her website. poring over levi's photo spread while listening to celine dion. ripping out levi's pictures. but kathy griffin wasn't the only one thrown for a loop. this cover is how levi's own sister and mother discovered that he's engaged to bristol palin. in a post entitled "who needs coffee when you wake up to news this shocking," levi's sister,

mercede blogs about how her crying mother woke her up with the cover of "us weekly" on her laptop. >> not the image i wanted to come face to face with when i first opened my eyes. there seems to be bad blood between the johnstons and the palins. levi's mom told "inside edition" don't leave us out of it. that would kill me. it is not just women mourning the news that levi is getting married. >> i think he's pretty hot. major crush. >> reporter: levi may be hot but kathy griffin is already moving on to another hottie -- taylor lautner from "the twilight" films. >> i'm just going to be looking in his beautiful chocolate eyes all night and waiting for magic to happen. >> what about you? >> the same thing, yeah. >> reporter: a man of few words, but "i do" will apparently be among them.

jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> do you think he called kathy and broke up with her before -- let her know? >> it must have been a surprise to her, too. >> poor thing. she'll get over it. she'll find a new man. >> there are other fish in the alaskan sea. >> she knows how to operate the ice fishing drill. there you go.

good morning. it is july 16th. i'm kiran chetry. >> i'm john acosta. john roberts is off today. a big picture to show you. right now it's unbelievable to believe but it is definitely worth a thousand words. maybe a million. maybe even more than that. we hope the long national nightmare is over.

the spill has been stopped for now. bp containment cap is holding and pressure tests on the ruptured well are progressing but we aren't out of the woods yet obviously. a live report from new orleans in just a moment. also up for bad press? a thumbs down from "consumer reports" and rumors of a costly recall, there is a new report saying steve jobs was actually warned that iphone 4's wrap-around antenna design could cause problems. apple is expected to break its silence at a press conference later today. what will they say? what should they say? a pr expert will give us his take. one tea party leader raising more than a few eyebrows after penning a racist rant after the naacp, of all weeks, charged the grassroots movement of tolerating racism in its ranks. see what the tea party leader wrote coming up. we're continuing to follow a developing story this morning. a 3.6 magnitude earthquake hit

near gaithersburg, maryland. it hit about 5:00 this morning. rob marciano is tracking this from the cnn extreme weather center. did people actually feel this thing? >> yeah, light shaking was felt. but you mentioned 20 miles west, just outside of d.c. or northwest outside of d.c., also ten miles outside of rockville, maryland. this is the potomac, shenandoah region, the virginia seismic zone which gets a little shaking every now and then. but to get to the point where you can actually feel it is certainly unusual. as far as i can see, the d.c. area hasn't seen this kind of shaking in at least a couple of decades. so unusual, for sure. but no damage expected to be reported with this. but everything you see in the lighter blues and greens there is where people actually felt it and reported that in. little bit of light shaking to wake you up at 5:00 a.m. across the d.c. metropolitan area. interesting stuff. hopefully no more shaking throughout the day today. but if we do get anymore we'll

report it back to you for sure. and of course weather coming up later in the program. >> rob, thanks. a disaster on hold for 15 hours now. all of that leaking oil in the gulf replaced by some tears of joy this morning obviously. take a look at bp's live feed from a mile down. it's eerily quiet, almost see reason. h there is finally hope that the end could be near. >> it is because integrity tests on bp's ruptured well are moving ahead and so far, so good. the spill appears, at least for now, to be completely stopped. but the big question this morning is can the ruptured well withstand the enormous pressure that's now building inside of it. >> ed lavendera has been tracking the integrity testing and all the latest developments from the gulf coast. he's live in new orleans this morning. ed, where do things stand right now and what should we be looking for as the morning progresses? >> reporter: good morning, guys. this is really a question of

sustainability, how long can this containment cap sustain this situation. that is, being able to work keeping the flow of oil from continuing to flow into the gulf waters. we do know that scientists are monitoring those pressure gauges around the clock, that they have been huddling up in six-hour intervals to kind of compare notes and see how to move forward. the fact that we're still seeing these amazing pictures from the bottom of the gulf waters is a good sign, because they had been telling us that if things had gone wrong or if the pressures started dropping, they could essentially end this integrity test at any point. so the fact that they're still doing this is a good sign. it is supposed to last up to 48 hours. then the question becomes, what next? there is a couple of different options. there is the possibility that the containment cap continues to work the way it is by itself, but what admiral thad allen, as everyone knows, the man in charge of the federal response, he seemed to be leaning more toward the idea that the valves

would need to be re-opened and riser pipes connected to those exit points and oil brought up to the surface, collected with vessels on the surface of the gulf waters. he's made several comments yesterday to that effect so it seems to be the way he views how this might play out in the coming days. but regardless, this is a monumental step and a big change for what we've seen the last three months down here in the gulf of mexico. >> well, our fingers are crossed, ed. we really hope that this is it. ed lavendera live in new orleans. thanks. president obama saying he is cautiously optimistic bp's new cap will hold. the president's taken a beating over his handling of the gulf oil crisis. but to hear the white house tell it he was on a roll before the oil gill and the greek debt crisis, the two "gs" stopped his moment momentum. >> reporter: inside the west wing of the white house, top aides do call it the "gs." that the greek debt crisis sort of slowed the momentum of the

economic recovery here as debt woes have spread across the globe, but also the gulf oil spill, that explosion was in early april just a couple weeks after the president signed the health care reform bill into law. i'm told by democratic officials that a couple days ago here at the white house wh the president met with democratic senators he said he felt like he was gaining a little bit of traction and momentum just when the oil spill hit. that's, in part, why we're seeing such cautious optimism out of this without to what he had lavendera was just reporting. they want to stress when you talk to senior aides that they are not certain that this is going to hold. they want to be very careful, not do any celebrations, no "mission accomplished" banners outside this white house about what's going on down in the gulf. in fact, when i asked the president yesterday he made remarks on the wall street reform bill finally passing through the senate, another domestic accomplishment for him. i shouted a question about the gulf oil spill, the latest developments. he said, look, it is a positive

sign but these tests are still going on and they want to make sure that all of this sticks. we're expecting the president this morning to once again speak here at the white house before he leaves with the family for a weekend vacation to maine. he realizes all eyes right now are on the gulf but they want to be very careful about not celebrating any political victories and make sure that all goes well in the days ahead first. >> ed henry for us this morning, thanks so much. the president will make a statement about the gulf oil shutoff -- that's what we're calling it now -- before going on vacation during the 9:00 a.m. eastern hour. right here on cnn. that will be live at 9:00 this morning. the claims of racism are flying back and forth between the naacp and the tea party. this morning that's ratcheted up another notch after the civil rights group first accused the grassroots movement of putting up with racists in their ranks. mark williams, a tea party leader, suggests that it is the naacp that's racist.

now he's sparking new controversy by writing a satirical blog in the form of a letter from the head of the naacp to abraham lincoln. in part, it reads, "freedom means having to work for real, thing for ourselves and take consequences along with the reward. that is just far too much to ask of us colored people and we demand that it stop!" now we spoke to mark williams last night and he did confirm that he wrote that blog. >> that's right. we're trying to get him on the show this morning. if he's watching, we'd appreciate it if he call in. in about 20 minutes, we're also going to be looking at something else. many people who were hopeful about president obama's election bringing about racial harmony, why does it seem we still haven't turned the page on this issue? carol costello has a gut check. that's coming up. at 8:30 eastern we'll get reaction from hillary shelton, the director of the naacp in pawing. you can find our live blog up

and running at cnn.com/amfix. this is amazing stuff. a piece of history uncovered in a place you may not expect. why is a ship from the 1700s buried under the streets of lower manhattan. our crews take you there to get some answers. we mean take you there. we mean down in there. stick around. it is a story you won't want to miss. seven minutes past the hour. well, we have this incredible system. paid invoices go right here. that hasn't been paid yet. what? oh. there's a better way to run your business. try intuit quickbooks online for free.

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this is a story that sounds like an urban legend but it is not. it is real. workers at the world trade center site uncovered the hull

of a ship dating all the way back to the 1700s. >> they're thrilled about this find. we first told but it yesterday. they had an aerial shot from one of the helicopters over the site. now the big question is why is it here? why was it there in the first place in our mary snow actually climbed all the way down. >> hardhat and everything. >> you saw it up close and personal. archaeologists are just thrilled with this. >> they are so excited. this is such a rare find. this is part of the new world trade center se. it wasn't part of the original site. archaeologists say the area hadn't been excavating this deep which is why construction hadn't disturbed this part of the ground -- until now. at the construction site at ground zero, a rare find. remnants of a ship dating back to the 18th century. we were allowed to climb down 25 feet to the site and see firsthand what archaeologists stumbled upon yesterday. >> two timbers brought up by a backhoe. immediately thought that looks like a ship timber.

we stopped the backhoe and started excavating can shovels and uncovered a portion of this hull. since then have uncovered the rest that you see. >> reporter: what we can see is believed to be half of a ship. marine historian norm an brower was brought in to take a look. >> appears to be an ocean going vessel. probably at some time in the 1700s. it's heavily built. very solid frames built close together. >> reporter: this structure may have been used as a fireplace. an anchor was also recovered. how significant is this find? >> i mean i think it remains to be seen what this ship really is, but it is pretty significant. it is pretty exciting. there haven't been that many ships found in manhattan. it was something that occasionally ships were occasionally used as part of land filling so it probably was part of filling in this land. so it's not unheard of. >> reporter: because of the

history here, archaeologists have been monitoring the construction site. the wildlife conservation society shows just how much of lower manhattan was under water hundreds of years ago. compare that to now. >> mostly it just tells us about the landfill structure of this particular area and how they were reusing things like old boats to build out the land because the shorelines was originally at greenwich street about a block that way. >> reporter: where we're standing now at one point was just the hudson river. >> hudson river. yeah. >> reporter: this site is just south of where the world trade center towers once stood. this rare relic hidden for more than 200 years. >> this is the kind of thing that archaeologists are always hoping to find and very rarely actually do. >> as you might imagine, the remnants of this 32-foot wooden hull are very fragile, very brittle. workers are continuing to excavate it, collecting samples to study. the hope is that they'll be able to get enough of these samples that they will eventually wind up in a museum. >> that's really neat. you also said time is ticking

because now that is it is exposed to sunlight they have to work fast. >> right. and this is a construction stop. they're not stopping. they don't have much time at all. they hope to recover this by sunday. >> pretty neat. mary, thanks so much. the tech industry experts say that there is a whole lot riding on apple's press conference that's coming up in just a few hours about how they're going to respond to the iphone 4 complaints about the antenna and what should apple do to make it right? we're talking to a corporate damage control expert next. 14 minutes past the hour.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. 17 minutes past the hour right now. another crack this morning in the wall of secrecy surrounding apple. bloomberg news is reporting that one of the company's top engineers was working on the antenna, warned ceo steve jobs that that wrap-around design could be a problem. now after weeks of bad press, apple's breaking its silence at a news conference later this morning. what should they say and how much do apple iphone 4 owners really care about this issue? "minding your business" this morning is eric dezenhall, he runs a pr company specializing in corporate damage control. good morning to you, eric. >> good morning. >> you also own the iphone 4.

what's your take as a customer first before you put on your pr hat? >> well, i think that from a customer perspective, it really comes down to two things. how does this affect me, and what are you doing about it? that's all people care about. i think one of the interesting things from a damage control perspective is, apple consistently violates every damage control cliche without any consequence. they're secretive, they lash out at consumers, they're entitled, yet at the same time there is the reason why there is no consequences because when you are an insurgent, sort of a bad boy, that is a privilege that you have because people will love you no matter what you do. but now apple is no longer just an insurgent. they are a trend-setting market leader, so the behavior of the past has to shift. >> all right. so first of all, let me ask you about your own iphone. have you had these problems with the dropped call, antenna, so-called death grip? >> no, i haven't. >> do you have a cover for it?

>> i didn't. a lot of what will have to happen in this news conference is again, those two big questions -- how does this affect me and what are you doing about it? what's the solution? is it software? is it hardware? i think one of the great things apple has going for them is because there are people who have an evangelical belief in their product, they won't have to work as hard as some. but, if there is some sort of technical problem, what's the answer? at some point in every romance the swooning ends and the practical takes over. what is the practical solution? >> so there have been two things that a lot of the tech blog experts have talked about. one is that apple comes out today and says, you know, maybe it is a hardware problem, maybe it is a software problem but the bottom line is it can all be fixed by putting a cover on it and we'll offer those for free for anybody who wants it, or a full recall which is expensive, $1.5 billion by some estimates. is that a likely scenario? >> a lot of it depends on what

the empirical problem is. i think there is going to have to be something other than lashing out and saying the consumer is holding it wrong, it's someone else's fault. that is going to be a problem. but whether it is a software solution or a hardware solution or a recall, i mean a recall nor a company like apple, they're a very wealthy company so they can afford something like that. but, there's no reason to do a recall if there is a solution other than something radical. >> this is interesting today. "wall street journal" reporting apple engineers were aware and made steve jobs aware of this possible problem with the new antenna design, the wrap-around design nearly a year ago. >> i'm skeptical. >> you don't believe that? >> in every crisis i've ever worked on, right after the initial allegation, the second thing that happened is the telltale e-mail, the whistle-blower, somebody who claims they told the company. and my experience has been, you don't really know whether or not you're dealing -- you really are dealing with a top-level person

or what. i mean when the media begin digging into something like this, there is a 100% chance you will find an e-mail, you will find a memo, you will find a renegade who says they don't like it. i don't hold a lot of credence to that simply because it happens in every case i've ever worked on, but it doesn't mean that from a consumer perspective you have to hold our hands and at some point the emotional love we feel for the product gives way to the fact that if i can't use it, it's going to be a problem. the fact is i haven't had a problem and a lot of people haven't had a problem, but those who do are going to need a tangible solution, not just a pr outreach. >> all right, well we'll see what they say today about the issue. stock price down 7% since the introduction of the iphone 4. but at the same time, not a huge amount of people running in to turn it back in. >> no. >> eric dezenhall, thanks for being with us this morning.

also this morning, accusations the tea party tolerates racism sparking another national debate on the sensitive topic of race. but after the beer summit and president obama's historic election, what is the state of race relations in this country? our carol costello has a gut check. 21 minutes after the hour. ♪ band: this girl i know's so into ♪

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25 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. first an "a.m. original," something you'll see only on "american morning." race, of course, is one of the most sensitive issues in our country, and right now there's -- the whole issue has been brought to the forefront again. >> it's been dredged back up again. core supporters of both the naacp and the tea party are in a heated battle over the issue. carol costello joins us now live from washington with a gut check. president obama's election certainly has not brought about racial harmony and this past week is exhibit a. >> you're right ba about that. no one really thought two, but at the very least some believed it would turn a page on race relations. but maybe there wouldn't be a debate that's playing out now between the tea party movement and the naacp. each side is calling the other racist. things got even more heated this morning because one tea party leader mark williams posted a is

a satirical blog that reads, in part, " -- the letter is from the head of the naacp to abraham lincoln. why can't we stop this? is this a sign race relations have actually taken a step back? on "larry king live" a discussion turned bad about the naacp's accusation the tea party movement tolerates racist elements. >> you know what? it wasn't -- >> excuse me, i'm talking so shut your mouth. >> reporter: it was a meltdown, just like an earlier discussion on wolf blitzer's show. cnn contributor roland martin on one side, tea party express spokesperson mark williams on the other. >> you should come out and say you're not welcome here and -- >> racists have their own movement.

it is called the naacp. >> reporter: observers say it is the same racial stalemate america's been stuck in for years. still, not so long ago americans were kind of hopeful. on the day before president obama's inauguration, a "washington post" poll showed nearly 6 in 10 americans said his presidency would advance cross-racial ties. but by january 2010, only about 4 in 10 believe that. >> any time that we've seen racial progress in the united states, we've also seen racial backlash. >> reporter: this man who wrote "the substance of hope, barack obama and the paradox of progress," says even president obama doesn't believe his election will bring about racial harmony. he said so himself. >> i have never been so naive as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidate, particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own. >> reporter: the president said that in a major speech about

race in america in march of 2008. the only other time he broached the race issue in a substantive way was in july of 2009 during the now-infamous, and some say disastrous, beer summit. others say don't expect the president to play peacemaker this time around. >> the tea party is the number one enemy of the obama administration, and the naacp is a very strong force behind president obama but you will not see our president trying to somehow use this moment that's going on right now in a healing way. he's going to ignore it and stay above the fray. >> reporter: it brings us back to our question -- have we taken a few steps back when it comes to race relations? as for whether the election of america's first black president will have a lasting positive influence on race relations? >> we won't really know what the real significance of this is for many years to come. >> we want to know what you think this morning.

why can't we move past this debate? why can't we move beyond race? isn't it time? and also we want you to write to our blog, cnn.com/amfix. if you want to read the entirety of the blog written by mark williams, it is posted on the blog. cnn.com/amfix. i'm ready to take your comments this morning. >> carol, it's important people read that for themselves. what we've been reading this morning has not been taken out of context. it is what he wrote. it's pretty incendiary stuff. carol costello, thank you. stay with us. in about an hour we'll get reaction to the war of words between the naacp and the tea party movement when we talk to sh hillary shelton, the director of the naacp in washington. for the first time in nearly three months, no oil is spewing out of that ruptured well in the gulf of mexico. the oil giant's new containment cap is holding.

an integrity tests on the well is now under way. we should know by this weekend whether it can handle all of the pressure that's now building up inside of it and whether or not the well itself was damaged underground. >> even if the containment cap holds and the oil well successfully killed, there is still a lot of work left to do. that observation coming from bp's chief operating officer, doug suttles. he told cnn's wolf blitzer he's heartened by these positive developments but now is not the time to start celebrating. >> we don't have any leaks, we don't have any oil coming out that we know of. it is the beginning. hopefully we'll continue it for the next 48 hours which puts us well into saturday afternoon. but of course, it is good to see that there's not any new oil coming in to the gulf. but, wolf, i got to stress -- being out here on the gulf coast today, we're far from the finish line here. we've got a lot of work left to do. we're going to be here for a long time. >> so far, not much coming from the president on the progress

being made in the gulf. the first family's headed to maine today for a weekend vacation in bar harbor. ed henry managed to get a brief, cautiously optimistic comment from the president yesterday. >> sir, are you enkoirnlgcourag the oil that is stopped flow the in the gulf. >> we're still in the testing phase. i'll have more about it tomorrow. >> the president's statement will happen during the 9:00 hour. we'll carry it live right here on cnn. >> probably a good idea to be cautious right now. even if we have seen the last drop of oil from this disaster, plenty of damage has already been done. that's where the white house's $20 billion man come in. he is kenneth feinberg. he'll be overseeing bp's $20 billion settlement fund starting next month. >> he held a town hall meeting to explain how he intends to make a lot of people who are hurting whole again, or at least try. amber lyon is in new orleans

this morning. explain for us how this all will work, amber. >> reporter: good morning, kiran. as of now bp's been handling all of the claims process. kenneth feinberg says three weeks from now he is going to be completely taking over and he's going to start digging into that $20 billion escrow account. feinberg made it a point yesterday when he was speaking with these shrimpers, fishermen, business owners, that that $20 billion is there. he also made it a point that he is working independently of the u.s. government and bp. he says, too, he's going to make this process easier and more efficient. in the past bp was cutting checks for a month at a time. feinberg says he is going to cut six-month checks worth six months of losses. also he's going to try to get these payments out within 24 to 48 hours of the claims being filed. now we caught up with feinberg in lafitte, louisiana. he was speaking to a standing room only group of local fishermen. this was around the same time that news broke that this cap was working. we spoke with people who say

they feel confident but they can't breathe a complete sigh of relief quite yet. >> it's fabulous, because if the oil has stopped flowing, that makes it easier for us to begin to corral the type of claims. because we'll know better where the oil is going to go. >> well, i feel like i can get back to a little normal and i don't have to roll in no sleep at night. it's a big relief off a lot of people and shrimpers. >> this isn't a complete stop. we don't know how long it is going to last. when they can tap into that well and totally turn it off, then we're going to light fireworks. we're going to celebrate. whereas you can imagine, mr. feinberg is a pretty popular man right now. he's literally holding a blank checkbook filled with $20 billion of bp's money that he's going to start writing those checks about three weeks from

now, he says. in addition to this, he is lawyer, a mediator. this is the same guy who handled the september 11th victims defense fund. also virginia tech. also regulating executive pay during the financial bailouts. good morning. back to you. >> amber, thanks so much. he seems to be the go-to guy when there is a crisis. an anonymous list circulates around utah naming names claiming more than 1,300 people are illegal immigrants. a lot of their personal information, addresses, phone numbers, even social security numbers, due dates of pregnant women. now one official says it looks like government information was used to put it together. there are many people living there legally and illegally that are scared. privacy advocates are outraged. what's behind this? more coming up. 34 minutes past the hour.

37 minutes past the hour. an anonymous letter and list distributed to the media, as well as government offices across utah, has privacy advocates outraged and a lot of latinos worried about their safety. the list contains more than 1,300 names of people all accused of being illegal immigrants in the state of utah.

and a list -- what came with the list was a letter from the "concerned citizen of the united states." >> also included extremely personal information, addresses, social security numbers, even pregnancy due dates. state officials are worried that government information was used to put it all together. let's bring in the director of the advocacy group, also utah's former director of state affairs. we appreciate your time this morning. first, just start off with a little bit of an explanation for our viewers who may not be familiar with the story. what exactly was on this list? we talk about it a little bit but this goes into some pretty detailed stuff. >> yes, good morning. obviously the list has become famous now. it contains a lot of personal information and we've been finding out over the last few days that not everyone or

entirely the people who are on the list are undocumented immigrants. many of them have spouses or relatives that are u.s. citizens. so this has really created an outrage in our community. >> as i understand it, more than 1,000 phone calls from hispanics to you guys in utah really in a panic over this. there was some anecdotal reports of people calling the homes, children answering and somebody on the other end of the line saying, "i know you're illegal and we're going to come after you." what has been the response from the latino community? >> well, they've been pretty scared. i mean they have been terrorized by this act and we took calls until about 11:00 last night and we will continue to take calls today. the community's very afraid. many of them were asking us should i leave, should i move. there was one lady who was about eight months pregnant. she says i'm having contractions

now. this has been a pretty traumatizing event for our community here in utah. >> one reason why, the names of pregnant people would be listed there is because this is obviously an issue with critics of the illegal immigration who worry about what they call anchor babies, babies that are born in the united states of illegal immigrants. but you also host a radio show, tony, and you say you got a suspicious phone call from a listener just recently. we want to play a clip of that. because you described it as fairly disturbing. let's listen to that. >> che change their names. they get food stamps. they get medical. they work. they sell drugs some of 'em. >> tony, what do you think's going on there? >> well, that was a call from -- she describe herself as a state employee. obviously someone who knows, who has a lot of information. one of the things that we as

citizens do is we trust our government to protect our information. so for -- this debate over immigration needs to be dealt with at a political level, at the legislature, at the capital, in congress. but not when you have individual workers, state government workers, trying to deal with this issue. so that's where this has crossed the line, we believe. >> you're saying you think there may have been a connection between this caller and the publication of the list. >> well, it was coincidental. obviously that's being investigated right now. i want to say this. i want to commend the governor for taking immediate action when this came about. i don't think he thought about it twice. i called him in the morning. within a few hours he had ordered an investigation. and in just a matter of two days we have basically zeroed in where the information came from. >> i just want to read this state from the department of

workforce services. they said, "dws officials have confirmed that their database has all the information needed to compile such a list. close to 1,200 people have access to that info on a day to day basis. the department is now conducting an internal investigation." when you talk about the investigation, what do you think will happen? what do you hope happens? >> well, those responsible i think should be brought to justice and the governor's office indicated they'll be submitting a report to the attorney general by monday. so less than a week, we already seemed like we're getting to a closure on this issue. we'll let the attorney general determine whether or not there are criminal charges that will follow with that. >> it is your view that there could be some criminal charges here, perhaps some charges relating to theft of state property, release of state property, that sort of thing. >> yes. i mean that's precisely what it is. that's what's outraged the

entire community. this is information that could be about you and i. about us as citizens of this country. that's where the main concern is. yes, the immigration side is -- we can put it aside, but a lot of families, or every single one of those 1,300 members listed have citizen members of their family as part of -- that are listed on that. >> that just shows you how complicated this debate is as well. there are legal citizens mixed in with illegal citizens and the issue of course is sparking -- >> how do you know? whose name is on the list, is that right? >> you've actually been getting hate mail, death threats for defending illegal immigrants as well. >> well, you know, people are obviously passionate and emotional about this issue. and, boy, the calls don't stop coming. we just -- we reported to our police department yesterday here, so they're taking action on that.

>> tony, we appreciate your time for us this morning. tony is the the pulse of pulso latino on 1550 a.m. in tulsa. his show is more popular than ever, i would imagine. >> tony, thanks. good luck with that. keep us posted. >> good morning. thank you. this morning's top stories just minutes away, including the oil spill in the gulf not spilling right now. is the stain it left on the president though permanent? cnn's ed henry and candy crowley weigh in. also, hundreds of pets abandoned at overcrowded shelters because the cost of caring for them overwhelmed oil spill victims who have fallen on hard times. but viewers saw this story and really answered the call. we'll have more on -- we'll have a wonderful update for you on what's going on at this shelter. why dr. sanjay gupta is preparing to jump into the hudson river this weekend.

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hello, new york city. new york city is mostly cloudy right now. 76 degrees. little gloomy out there this morning but we think it is going to get better.

high of 93 later today. by the way, our weather forecast for sunday in the big apple -- a high of 94 with 100% of a medical correspondent going into the hudson river. >> you saw one of the sailboats just blowing around. a little bit breezy out there on the water today. well, it is time for a very special a.m. house call this morning. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta is getting ready to jump into the hudson river for the new york city triathlon. this is a culmination of a year or more of preparation and it is happening this sunday. >> he just doesn't do this every day, folks. it is the moment sanjay and six "american morning" viewers have been training months for. this morning the gang's all here with sanjay live starting at the starting line. take it away, sanjay. >> reporter: we'll take the cloudiness, we'll take the gloo gloominess. it is nice and cool out here. if we can keep that up for sunday, we'll be very happy. you're absolutely right, this is the start of the race. we've convinced six viewers from around the country to join us to

jump in to the hudson river and swim right down here. then bike and run after that. it is interesting, six months ago is when we started this whole process for most of us. it was actually the day of the haiti earthquake when this happened. 12 hours later i was in haiti but we've been training for some time now. the first three participants, dean, meredith and ricky. first, the swim is about a mile down this way. they say the current is supposed to go the other way but as far as i can tell right now it is just heading out that way. not sure how much that is going to help us. tell us about your last six months and what you've learned. >> well, i've learned that i've gotten a lot of confidence in myself. i didn't really think i could achieve certain things that i did, specifically on the bike, distances that i've covered. i'm kind of proud of myself and i think it is just the beginning of a lot more to come. >> why did you decide to do this? >> well, you know, i'm married. we're coming up on two years now. me and my wife want to have a baby this year, start trying for

it. i just want to provide a really good example for my family, my kids, just like my dad did. >> off the cigarettes? >> yeah, i'm away from those. feeling good. >> mission accomplished. >> yes. yes. >> meredith, thanks again. i thanks again. this has been a -- everyone's got busy schedules. no one is excluded from that. how have you done over the last six months? >> i've done well. a triathlon has helped me appreciate balance and making time for exercise. fitting it in before or after work. >> we want to talk about being a role model specifically for young african-american women. >> yes. >> what kind of feedback? watching television? >> absolutely. great feedback from my friends and family and complete strangers, looked me up on facebook, just on the internet. finding out about has i'm doing and realizing real people can do something like this. >> after the swim, 25 miles on a bike. how do you feel about that? >> i am not so confident about the bike. my goal is to stay on the bike and just to finish that portion

of the race just to get to the finish line. that's all i'm looking for. >> i'll be right there in the water to start off. ricky, thanks again. how have the last six months been for you? >> amazing. so many ups, down, challenges, victories. one thing that i've picked up during the six months it's that, in my past i've always been a really strong starter, and a lot of excitement, a lot of motivation and then kind of fizzle out in the middle and really never finish. so i've learned about consistency, repetition. how important those things are every day. making my meals every week, get the training in. that little bet led me to where we are today. that's been a big learning, you know, lesson for me for sure. >> also a role model for a lot of youth in your own family and people that you teach as well. i know they're going to be watching you as well. let me tell you, it's not too late. we could have you come out and join us sunday morning as well, jump right into that water with us. we're calling you out right here

and will ask you that question right after the break. stay with us. (voice 2) they're pinging more targets... (voice 3) isolate... prevent damage... (voice 2) got 'em. (voice 3) great exercise guys. let's run it again. everythinge do it's beln it's a yea 50 milpromise. wi complenta schemaintee and /7 roaide assiance. beusen y ce the st bif, faaronar

we are back with "american morning." it's an olympic distance tryout. convincing these people to do it with us. a mile swim, 25-mile bike and 10k, six-mile run.

stanley, how have the last six months gone for you? >> very interesting. learned a lot. i think i've gotten stronger. i believe that i've learned really to take one day at a time. >> reporter: you look great. have you lost weight? changed your body? >> yes, i lost about 15 pounds. i do want to lose more, but i also gained a lot of muscle. i've been working out a lot more, too. so -- >> reporter: you're saying i couldn't push you in if i wanted to? >> you're coming with me. >> reporter: angie, thanks again. how's it going for you. >> it's been good. i've been amazed what i can accomplish, when you set your mind to it. >> reporter: this is a big -- it's a big thing to add to your life. you're already pretty busy, dealing with a lot. why do this? and why should other people do this as well? >> i think i feel so much better about myself, physically, spiritually, emotionally. i just feel like if you're -- you know, keeping your fit. your whole life just falls into

order. >> reporter: and what's been the hardest part of the training? >> working it in. the time. it's been real hot and humid in ohio the last month. so i've had good training weather, because i think it's going to be humid here, too. >> reporter: sunday's your anniversary. your husband will be here as well. that will be fun. linda, i know it's been hard. you had physical challenges to overcome? >> just overcoming injuries and the fear of those coming back, my back and hip and that. it's been amazing. everybody around me, it's been amazing i haven't had issues with those injuries and i'm stronger every day. it's been good about my confidence and i just feel like, wow, i can actually do this. so i'm pretty excited. >> reporter: you were watching on television when we started talking about this and decided you want to join. sent in your story and decided you'd be perfect for the team. what was the step that made you really do this? a lot of people watch this and

say thi athlon could be great for me one day, but not now? >> i'm like to get back into law enforcement. see how it goes. i thought if i can do the triathlon i can go back and do the job safely. i felt like there ways a comparison. i'm strong. whatever i need to do, whatever life's going to hand me next, i feel that i can get there. >> reporter: you point out, one of our most competitive tryouts probably going to do very, very well. let's just bring everybody in. this is the team, guys. six viewers from around the country, literally, who wrote their stories in, decided to join us and have stuck with it, and sunday, we're all jumping in that river right behind us. you guy, welcome to join us. come out here, 6:40 in the morning. that's our start time. >> we'll be rooting for you in spirit. >> exactly. >> no doubt. i know can you do it. >> you guys get to sleep in one day a week. we'll understand. >> good luck to you, sanjay. seriously. that's a huge undertaking and good luck to all of them as

well, because, a huge accomplishment. >> absolutely. terrific. >> reporter: i think everyone feels good, they look great and i think they're absolutely all ready. >> can't wait to see you in action. congrats to all. get a good night's sleep and good luck. a quick break. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] last year, the u.s. used enough plastic water bottles to stretch around the earth over 190 times. each brita filter can take up to 300 of those bottles out of the equation.

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good morning, everybody. it's friday, july 16th. i'm jim acosta in for john roberts. good to see you. >> good to have you with us this morning. a lot to talk about. kiran chetry, by the way. let's get right to it. tears replaced by joy in the gulf. for now, at least, the oil spill has stopped. bp's containment cap is working still. this now 15, 16 hours and counting, and they're doing tests to see how well the ruptured well is holding up under all of that pressure. so we're going to get a live report from the scene, still ahead. and a 3.6 magnitude earthquake shaking things up in the nation's capital this morning. in a does not happen every day down there. it struck just after 5:00 a.m. eastern. the epicenter 20 mile it's northwest of washington, d.c. the latest on that developing story. not a big one but worth noting in a moment. and the gloves are off. the naacp and tea party locked

in a bitter battle over charges of racism. many in the grass roots organization are insisting they're not racists but not helping the cause. one tea party leader coming out with a satirical blog that many say is nothing more than a racist rant. getting both sides of that story as well. >> nothing short of incendiary there. and up and running, join the live conversation now. go to cnn.com/amfix, we'll read your comments throughout the morning. kiran? we're not in the clear yet, but there is a sense of hope this morning that perhaps we are turning the page on the disaster in the gulf of mexico, and that it may be nearing an en. bp's containment cap, which they closed the valves on yesterday afternoon is holding. that means that the oil flow has now been stopped for more than 16 hours. >> right. now we've been showing that box at the bottom of your screen the last 87, 88 days? well, you might not be seeing that quite so much, if the oil is not spilling. this is great news, but the

ruptured well may not be plugged for good. we have to keep tabs on it until the weekend, obviously. ed lavandera is live in new orleans for us this morning, and, ed, any sense how well the well is holding up at this point and all of that pressure that's building up in inside of it obviously bp is keeping a very close eye on that this morning. >> reporter: the visual, what we can tell, the fact that the test is still going on that is a good sign. so the fact we're not seeing more oil spewing into the gulf of mexico, that's good. we're also expecting a technical briefing from bp officials here in about 30 minutes. so we'll be able to pass along hopefully a better snapshot of what's been going on since the integrity test started yesterday afternoon, but seriously, this is a crucial moment, we're in the midst of a very important test and obviously from a visual standpoint, the fact that we're no longer seeing this oil spewing into the gulf of mexico, it has sent shock waves across the gulf coast region. people really hoping and sensing for the first time that this

could be the beginning of the end. that the tone from especially from officials along the gulf coast is that everyone is still cautiously optimistic but hoping in some sort of way, either the cap works by itself or they're able to collect all of the oil and keep it from flowing into the gulf of mexico. it's a huge breakthrough and people really are anticipating something big here. jim and kiran? >> all right. ed lavandera. fingers crossed. as we said, 16 hours and counting and should know mow how the tests are going this afternoon. >> and a nice opportunity to get good news down there for a change. >> i know. down there since the very beginning of this. >> doing great stuff. in the 88th day of the disaster in the gulf. for months watching in horror as clouds of crude billowed into the sea. that's what makes this before and after video so heartening. on the right a chance to exhale and what is happening now on the right. not single drop of oil is coming

out of that ruptured well. >> the before and after picture, and after bp cut the flow of oil into the gulf, its stock price actually took off. another chart to show you right now. the stock was up about $2.72. >> wow. >> or 7.6%. the stock, of course, is still off about 35% from where it was trading before the deepwater horizon disaster. they still are going to be paying out billions, both in the compensation package and cleaning up and on and on. >> not out of the woods. the president will make a statement about the gulf oil shutoff before leaving for his maine vacation. it will happen during the 9:00 a.m. eastern hour and you'll see it right here on cnn. live at 9:00. after a series of frustrating setbacks in the gulf, president obama has been careful not to start celebrating too early. >> here with that, and more, of what the events on the gulf could mean for the president's coming elections, our chief political correspondent candy crowley and at the white house,

senior white house correspondent ed henry, and candy, going to you first. we were just talking about the fact the president and first family are about to head up to maine and folks are, critics already making note of the fact he's doing that instead of going somewhere else on vacation. i mean, what did you make of that and what do you think of the fact that this thing is off right now? >> a couple thing. about the vacation, i think the argument is that both the president and the first lady went down to the gulf and said, everyone should come down here and vacation. >> so they're not going there on vacation. >> i think that's where the criticism comes from. for the president, obviously, to have the leak plugged is better than to not have it plugged, but i think that the spilling of the oil hurt him more than the not spilling of the oil will help him. i think it take as distraction. i'm thinking in the end, people are worried about the economy. >> i want to bring in ed on this point too. candy said, people are worried about the economy. very easy while the president in the white house did obviously

not come out unscathed to put most of the blame on the company that did it, bp, et cetera. however, when it comes to the drilling moratorium, a lot of people saying this is more politics than practicality and people already suffering in the gulf will take another hit. what are people saying in the white house whether they'll change their mind on this? >> reporter: well, top white house aides say eventually they believe the president will lift the moratorium and let the deepwater drilling begin again. that is his goal. they understand the economic impact in the gulf but are weighing that against the environmental impact. the tragedy we've seen unfold in recent week. they don't want something like that to happen again. once they feel they have safety issues in check they will let drilling begin again. i think this shows we woke up to an earthquake literally here in d.c. this morning. shaking our homes, about 3.7 magnitude i guess, and it's, i think, appropriate at the end of this week, because you really did kind of feel the earth move underneath democrats a little bit here in washington. they were fighting all week about whether they're going to

lose the house or not. almost the silly little battle about what robert gibbs said last sunday on "meet the press," but its emblematic of the fact democrats are very much on edge. they're slipping behind in respects in campaign fund-raising and a perception issue now they may lose their grip on power in november. a rough week here. >> one of the other controversies that's come up this week, obviously talk about the oil stopping, how great that is all morning, but this controversy that's erupted between the naacp and tea party movement, which is just, you know, right for all kinds of gross generalizations on both sides. >> right. >> candy, what do you make of this? obviously, the republicans are counting on tea party activists to come out in droves this fall. what's going on here? >> well, listen, it's an election year, number one. number two, the naacp, you know, a venerable institution that has

fought for so long against racism and for the rights of african-americans, you know, turn on your tv and you do see racists signs. >> you see it. >> but we also know from a lot of reporters attending these tea party rallies that it's not the bulk of what's going on there. but what happens is, once this all just starts flying, it's very hard to get it to simmer down. we now have a blog. >> so people whaunds we're referring to, written by mark william, a little question. is he still the spokesperson for the tea party express? he said earlier this month, he was stepping down to focus on -- >> still clearly a leader in the tea party movement. that's right. >> all right. right there. what is he stepping down to focus on? >> he's going to run for the sacramento city council and a ground zero -- >> right. chairman. >> left, the ground zero mosque. either way called one of the leaders of the tea party and

wrote a mock letter that he apparently said was meant to be satirical, acting eadvantage gellist, sent a letter to abraham lincoln reads in part, dear mr. lincoln we've take an vote and decided we don't cotton that full emancipation thing. goes on and on. far too much to ask of us colored people. we demand that it stop. unquote. seems like such a hot potato for those in the party. what do tea party leaders have to do to denounce this if they are going to continue saying this is not a racist organization? >> first of all, satire never works in print, if that's indeed what that was. you know, absolutely. >> satire. >> absolutely. second of all, the current chairman of the tea party express has denounced racism did a direct in the camera, previously like in may, and said, you know if you're racist, don't come here. we're not about that, but it is -- there are so many elements of the tea party. there is no real "tea party."

not like the democratic party, the republican party. it's a conglomeration of a lot of roots and it's hard to control, but i think they do have to come out, because what does this do, but maybe turn people away saying, yeah, well, the tea party, aren't they the sort of racist people? so it really cuts into a movement, and so there needs to be something out there, i think. >> i want to know, ed, over at the white house washgs do they think of the tea party movement? a subject you do not hear this white house talk very much about, bus a force to be reckoned with. >> reporter: it could be. the simple reason why when you talk to senior white house aides they don't talk about it, you don't see robert gibbs pushing back, they think it gives them more attention. gives them more oxygen. they start pushing back. look at what the naacp did this week, as candy points out, a venerable rights organization, they felt they to speak out and not sit back longer, on the other hand, it's given the tea party a lot more attention. maybe bad, but it gives more

oxygen to their troops, if you will. this is why the white house wants to sit back and not get involved in this controversy at all. they're hoping to get the focus back to jobs, like the president did yesterday in michigan. i just bumped into a senior white house aide on my way to the camera saying, yeah, it's been a tough week but it got a little better yesterday. referring to the fact that it appears that maybe things are getting better with the gulf spill. maybe starting to turn the corner but being careful not to celebrate just yet because they've seen other times in this crisis where it looked like it was getting better and then all fell apart. >> underpromised and overdelivered? is that what you say? ed henry and candy coming up this sunday, quickly -- >> steny hoyer, democratic leader on the house side. mitch mcconnell, leader of the republicans talking about politics and what might get done between now and election time on capitol hill. >> sounds good. we'll be watch. catch candy on "state of the union" 9:00 eastern right here on cnn.

an earthquake rattled washington, d.c.'s area this morning. rob marciano has more on that. hey, rob. >> good morning, guisys. a quake, shallow, about three miles in depth. because of that, it was felt by a large chunk of that highly populated metropolitan area. don't expect damage reports with this magnitude quake. certainly unusual, not completely unheard of. the history of these quakes is a little bit, not very detailed. we're trying to dig stuff up. looks as though we haven't seen a quake of this magnitude near the d.c. area in probably 20 or 30 years. so if you grew up in the area, say, hey, i've never felt one of these before that wouldn't be too farfetched. we don't expect major aftershocks. if they occur we'll let you know. heat advisories out for this area. we'll talk about that later in the program. >> thanks, rob. still ahead, oil has now stopped gushing into the gulf. critical testing begins. so what now?

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15 minutes past the hour right now. it took bp 87 days to finally stop the oil. so it is stopped. that's the good news. the bad news, estimates are 218 billion gallons were spilled. right now it is not leaking. the hope is that they can continue keeping this well capped. >> right. will the cap hold or too soon to breathe a sigh of relief? back with us, a physicalists professor with city university of new york and also the host of "sci-fi science" on the science channel. thanks for being back with us this morning. and we were talking yesterday morning and talking about the setback. there's the cap that was on. it was leaking the equipment, the attachment leaking and you're saying none a positive sign. wait. we'll see this may work out, and it did. >> that's right. look at the big picture. you had eight failed attempts. 88 days of floundering and flailing about and finally they're getting a grip on this now. entering the last chapter, i think, in this tragedy. >> better late than never.

>> able to close it over the well. . would say the hard work begins. that is figures out whether or not this will hold. what do these pressure readings mean, if you can read the tea leaves here? >> this weekend, take your champaign bottles out, if the pressure holds. think of a fire hydrant, bottle it up rapidly. could burst a pipe. overpressurize, burst a pipe and the thing starts all over again. that's the nightmare scenario. so watch for any sudden drops in pressure indicating a new leak has sprung, and that's why they're monitoring the ground looking for oil leaks coming out. seismic activity. >> and sonar equipment down there. amazing. >> right. because of irreversible damage. the worst case scenario. pressure backs up, pipe bursts and it starts all over again. >> you mentioned you might be able to bring the champaign bottles out, but they still have to drill relief well, that's a complicated process and also hitting another bull's eye in some respects. how confident should americans

be that this crisis is coming to an end, do you think? >> in the sense that it's a one-two punch. first, we cap the top. then we choke the bottom. that's how you kill this monster. so far we have success if capping the top, and in a few weekless know whether we can choke the bottom. never get on the first try, remember. we're drilling three mileseneder the surface of water. we're trying to hit a dinner plate from that distance. never make it on the first try. it's like winning the lottery. you go in. you miss. fill it up with concrete. miss. drill again. fill it up with concrete. that could go on for weeks. >> the result of that it will actually work? >> exactly. >> may miss a few times, but it will work. >> choking in at the bottom as well as capping it from the top. >> i have a question about this. you say the government should have immediately put in and gathered the best physicalists, best minds on this projects, once we understood high-water pressure. it was nearly six weeks ago we

were talking about the crystals that formed because of the underwater depths. how much time do you think we could have saved? how many famed attempts, you called it eight of them, could have been avoided? >> three months ago we could have done this. but the basic science was not done years ago. remember, all of these things really work at 200 feet. at 200 feet below sea level, all of these things work. capping it, filling it, stuffing it. they all work. but at 5,000 feet, they don't work at all. so that's why it's a learning curve. after three months, after the science project, with us as the guinea pigs, we are finally learning the physics of working at 5,000 feet. >> and the critique of handling this crisis, every step of the wait you think the president should have taken a different approach, and we were talking about -- to ed henry and candy crowley, a political nightmare for this white house. so i mean what do you think the

president should do now in terms of how to handle this crisis moving forward? >> well, i think three months ago he should have called out the navy. he's calling out the national guard and the coast guard already. he should have removed bp from leadership, because bp was low-balling all of these numbers. we now know the figure of 1,000 barrels per day, they knew was actually closer to 40,000 to 60,000. they knew that. remove bp. then bring in these huge skimmers. they're coming in right now. three months after. >> amazing. >> skimmers from taiwan. >> made the gulf coast crazy to think they've been calming for this from day one. you said removing bp. a lot of people said that was not really very wise to do, because they are the ones with the equipment and the know-how to figure all of this out. you don't agree with that? >> i don't agree with that. we have many, many groups around the world with the same kind of expert eades and bp had a vested interest in low-balling the thing. they get fined about $1,000 per barrel pumped into the gulf. you do the math.

we're talking about $16 million per day, unless you low-ball the figure. i personally think trying to low-ball the numbers hoping the thing would go away and no one would know the difference. now it's on, of course, national news. >> a vested interest in making sure it stops, because, i mean, every day this goes on it's cost them billions. >> right. the bake science was not done several years ago. we could have tapped this three months ago. it's been a learning curve, but we now know the laws of physics are differ at 5,000 feet and not 200 feet. the last big oil well leaked was in mexico. the mother of all leaks. much bigger than this. it was capped at 160 feet. we have a lot of experience working at 100, 200 feet, almost no experience at 5,000 feet. >> it's good tips there for the government, for the next time this happens and let's hope it doesn't happen again. >> keep your fingers crossed. this weekend is a moment of truth. >> appreciate that sense of optimism there. we could all use it.

>> cross both fingers on one hand. amazing. >> that's right. >> only a physicist could do that. thanks. overwhelming response athose adorable pets on the gulf coast that had to be put up for adoption, not able to afford them anymore. a wonderful heartening update for you. more on the battle between the naacp and tea party coming up next with carol costello in a few moments.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. it is 8:24. that means it's time for an a.m. original. something you'll see only on "american morning." a race. is one of the country's most sensitive issues and remains so certainly this week. >> yes. because as we speak, core supporters of both the naacp and the tea party are in a heated battle over the issue. our carol costello joins us this morning live from washington with a gut check. we all remember back to president obama's election and inauguration thought we'd come a long way in race relations. >> reporter: we have. no one thought would turn into nirvana as far as race relations are concerned. at the very least, some believed it would turn a page on race relations. thought maybe there wouldn't be a debate that's playing out right now between the tea party movement and the naacp. each side calling the other

racist and things got even more heated this morning, because one tea party leader, a tea party member, i should say, mark williams, posted a satirical blog that read in part, freedom means having to work for real. think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. that is just far too much to ask of us colored people, and we demand that it stop. the "letter "sea from the head of the naacp to abraham lincoln. certainly not something that will bring the two sides together. so a gut check this morning. why can't we stop this? and is this a sign race relations have actually taken a step back? >> reporter: on "larry king live" a discussion turned bad about the naacp's accusation the tea party movement tolerates racist elements t. wasn't -- >> and it -- >> excuse me. i'm talking so shut your mouth. >> reporter: a meltdown like an earlier discussion on wolf blitzer's show. cnn contributor roland martin on

one side, tea party express spokesperson mark williams on the other. >> you should come out and say you're not welcome here, and you -- >> racists have their own movement. it's called the naacp. >> that's nonsense. >> reporter: observers say it is the same racial stalemate america's been stuck in for years. still, not so long ago americans were kind of hopeful. on the day before president obama's inauguration, a "washington post" poll showed nearly six in ten americans said his presidency would advance cross-racial ties. by january 2010, only four in ten believed that. >> anytime we've seen racial progress in the united states, we've also seen racial backlash. >> reporter: william ghailani who wrote "the substance of hope" says even president obama doesn't believe his election will bring about racial harmony. he said so himself. >> i have never been so naive as to believe we can get beyond our

racial divisions in a single election cycle. or with a single candidate. particularly a candidacy as imperfect at my own. >> reporter: the president said that as a major speech about race in america in march of 2008. the only other time he broached the race issue in a substantive was was in july of 2009 during the now infamous and some say disastrous beer summit. observers say don't expect the president to play peacemaker this time around. >> the tea party is the number one enemy of the obama administration and the naacp is very strong behind president obama, but you will not see our president trying to somehow use this moment that's going on right now in a healing way. he's going to ignore it and stay above the fray. >> reporter: it brings us back to our question. have we take an few steps back when it comes to race relations? as for whether the election of america's first black president will have a lasting positive influence on race relations?

>> we won't really know what the real significance of this is for many years to come. >> reporter: as for mark williams' satirical blog, presidential historians say that was a bad move, because it feeds into this debate and makes it even more poisonous, let's say. he says that maybe mark williams should have stepped back and said you know i think the naacp might be wrong on this issue but we don't tolerate racists with the tea party movement, but, of course that didn't happen, at least it's a far as mark wmts is concerned. >> and carol, last hour you asked viewers to comment on our blog. what are people saying this morning about this? >> reporter: saying a lot. some of the comments were very heated. i'll read a couple. from rachelle who says i was brought up to respect the president of the united states no matter what political party he belonged to. in our homo-honored the man elected to lead other nation, respected the office'sthe way the tea party defiled our spread a horrible example to our

children. this from kim who says the naacp is replete with racists and the naacp threw the first stone and it was a big one. the final outcome of this hullabaloo is in doubt but not one either side should be screaming shut up on cnn or shut your mouth, as it shows the weakness of a strong position each organization might have. keep the comments coming. cnn.com/amfix. one man wrote in, interested in this comment. he said you know, it's not really about race. it's about class. he's tired of us talking about race when, really, the biggest issue in the country right now is class. and the way, you know, people -- >> i thought you were going to say people showing good class. >> reporter: well, that, too. that, too. but he's talking about -- where you are economically. >> i see. >> has a lot to do with the politics of the day and how it affects people in the real world. >> very true as well. carol costello for us. thanks.

>> sure. s it is 30 minutes past the hour. time for our top stories. for the first time in nearly three months the oil stopped spilling in the gulf of mexico from bp's ruptured well. a live look at the oil giant's cap. there you see the containment cap is holding. now conducting integrity tests on the well. we should know by the weekend whether it can handle all pressure and twlornt is a leak under the ground, under the surface as well, e. >> even if the containment cap holds, there's a lot of work to be done. doug suttles spoke exclusively to wolf blitzer. he cautions this is not the time to start celebrating. >> we don't have any leaks. we don't have any oil coming out that we know of, and it's the beginning. we've got another, hopefully we'll continue it for the next 48 hours, which puts us well into saturday afternoon. but, of course, it is good to see that there's not any new oil coming into the gulf, but, you

know, woman, i've got stress and being out here on the gulf coast today, we're far from the finish line here. we've got a lot of work left to do and will be here for a long time. >> so far there's been hardly a word from president obama on progress being made in the gulf. yesterday he said he wanted to wait, see how things go today. the first family is headed to maine today for a vacation in bar harbor. a brief optimistic statement from the president yesterday by ed henry. >> reporter: sir, are you concerned the oil is stopped flowing in the gulf? >> it's a positive sign, still in the testing phase. i'll have more to say about it tomorrow. >> the spread scheduled to make a statement about the entry he heads for vacation. it's happening in about 30 minutes and we'll carry it live for you right here on cnn. the claims of racism are flying back and forth between the naacp and the tea party. the civil rights group accuses the grass roots movement of putting up with racists in their ranks but mark williams, a tea

party leader, suggests it's the naacp that is racist. writing a satirical blog in the form of a letter from the head of the naacp to abe lincoln. freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves and take consequences along with the rewards. his words here. that is just too much to ask of us, as he calls it, colored people, and we demand that it stop. joining us now to talk about this is hilary shelton, the director of the naacp in washington and a spokesperson for the tea party express and the president, the national association for the advancement of conservative people of all colors, as he likes to put it and hilary, start with you. i guess first of all, we wanted to bring you on, good morning to you, sir. we wanted to talk to you about this satirical letter, i guess, is what mark williams would describe it as. how would you describe it? >> well, it's a satire and parody that ends up being

offensive in the final analysis, and in this he refers to the president of the naacp as an uncle tom at the end saying that the nephew of tom, those kind of thing. yet another distraction from the real issues 0 the table. the real issues on the table are whether or not racist elements are inside the tea party. our experience, photographs, speeches and signs, and even instances tell us that there very well are, and all we are asking in that resolution, and another resolution passed by the naacp at this convention, is they look from with and repudiate those elements. it does not say they are racists overall. you don't ask somebody whose racist overall to repute itself of itself. there are elements there are and should be addressed. if we had that kind of problem, we would do exactly the same thing. the issues are whether question move forward as a nation. address the real issues as the naacp did and other resolutions passed on the national

convention to address the unemployment rate. the 17% unemployment among african-americans -- >> i want to bring in the tea party express spokesperson. lloyd, let me read a portion of this letter in case you haven't seen it. up on mark williams' website, marktalk.com/blog. it says, dear mr. lincoln, we the national association for the advance mant of colored people have take an vote and decided that we don't cotton that whole emancipation thing. freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves and take consequences along with the rewards. that is just far too much to ask of us colored people. as he puts it, and we demand it stop. lloyd, is that offensive to you? >> caller: no. look, guys, i know mark williams personally. he is not a racist, and he's just being satirical. he is just being satirical to

make a point. but this whole racist accusation really offends me, because i have attended well over 200 tea parties across the united states. these people is not racists. for the gazillionth time, they are not racist, they do not oppose barack obama's skin color. they oppose his policies and as far as, talking about racism and slander, benjamin slandered millions of people by telling the lie that he saw signs that read barack obama -- he is a liar. those sign dos not exist. your guys know and i know, if those signs -- >> if you don't -- >> you see the signs everywhere. >> they're not posted -- >> you want to jump in there? >> caller: millions of hard-working people -- >> i know -- too often -- >> hold on, lloyd.

let's let hillary respond to that. >> saying don't believe your lying eyes. if you go to the income krp website. >> caller: show me -- >> at naacp and see samples of those signs. >> caller: show me the signs that -- >> one of the signing -- even worse one of the -- one of the signs on -- >> caller: these signs that said -- >> hold on, lloyd. let's let hilary talk and then we'll go back to you. >> one of the sign on the website actually describes the president of the united states as an n word. that kind of inflammatory language has no place in civilized -- >> lloyd, let me ask you this. i've been to several tea party rallies myself. >> caller: about killing crackers -- and -- >> you shouldn't -- my understanding -- talks about the tea party. >> i've been to several tea

party rallies and i can say, i've seen with my own eyes offensive signs. things that were said that are offensive and i know you've been at a lot of these stops and i want to ask you, lloyd, are you saying you've never seen this before at a tea party rally? >> caller: no, never. >> you're saying you've never seen it? hold on, hillary. saying you're everseen it. >> caller: never. never. i am telling you, i have attended well over 200 tea parties. >> i know you have. >> caller: across the united states, and these folks talking about love. they talk about love for their country and they simply do not want or country transformed into -- these are families and grandmas and old folks. so many people have -- you want to talk about signs, i have seen a gazillion signs that say lloyd marcus for president.

i was in texas, a cowboy walked up to the tea party -- >> lloyd, i don't think that's going to happen. i hate to break your bubble there. let me bring hilary back in. hilary -- >> caller: something that redneck racist -- this whole. >> i see what you're saying, lloyd. there are folks -- right. >> caller: it's seriously -- >> let me bring in lloyd -- let me bring in lloyd, i'd like to ask him a question here. do you think, perhaps, it wasn't constructive for the naacp to come out with as strong a statement as they did, and -- there are folks--hold on, lloyd. who believe that their entire movement was maligned, everybody in the movement was maligned by what the naacp. >> caller: you guys, yes, that's what he did. >> and hilary, answer that, and lloyd hang on. >> caller: these folks or my family. they're my brothers and sisters. >> and what it says, call upon the leadership of the tea party

to repudiate the race. elements with. >> wrap it up here hillary. can you answer this question -- was it fair to paint a broad brush over the entire tea party movement in that fashion? was it fair, do you think, to do that? >> the resolution was very speck to those racist elements and it was important to raise those issues to shine a bright light on it and call upon tea party officials to repudiate that language. i assume living to the person at the other end of this television camera that he does not like the idea of this movement being associated with racism. if that's the case, repudiate those racists, those racist messages and racist activities. >> hilary, we appreciate your time. hilary shelton, director of the washington office of the naacp and lloyd marcus, spokesperson for the tea party express. we appreciate both of you coming on this morning and debating this topic for us this morning. thanks for your time. appreciate it. >> thanks for having us. thank you. >> kiran? i don't know if we settled that matter there. >> highly doubt it, i'm sure the

conversation will continue for sure. meanwhile, another countdown. we're hearing the president speak in about 20 minutes on the oil spill. the news this has been capped. that is good news. also today, apple's holding a press conference. don't know if it's going to be steve jobs or who will do the talking, talking about the iphone for the so-called death grip error there with the wraparound an ten tha. are they going to issue a full recall? free fixes? we'll talk more about what people think will happen today. 41 past the hour.

there you go. >> i love that getting all your play list out there. >> i'm telling you. welcome back. watching your money, another crack in the wall of secrecy surrounding apple. bloomberg news reporting one of the company the top engineering warned steve jobs the antenna could be a problem.

might be good information to know about. >> after weeks of bad press, apple initially saying it might have been a software glitch, telling people don't hold the phone that way. telling people, just bre aing is a news conference later this morning. some are saying maybe a full recall? others saying probably not likely, but what should apple tell its customers? earlier we talked with a crisis management expert. >> whether it's a software solution or a hardware solution or a recall. a recall for a company like apple, i mean, they're a very wealthy company. they can afford something like think, but there's no reason to do a recall if there is a solution other than something radical. the fact is i haven't had a problem, and a lot of people haven't had a problem, but those who do are going to need a tangible solution, not just a p.r. outreach. >> and he also has an iphone and says he's not giving his back. there you go. >> wasn't having a problem. >> he said that.

you know? many reported they've had it. some have said it's fine and not a run to the stores to return them. there you go. according to tech blog cnet, a full recall of the iphone 4 would cost'sal $ 1.5 billion. about 3% of their -- they can ar ford it. whether or not they'll do it, a different story. >> the one to watch. another thing to keep your eyes on, this weekend our own dr. sanjay gupta and his team f of, i guess what would you call them? >> "american morning" viewers taking a plunge with him in his triathlon. >> when we say plunge, we mean it, as in the hudson river. that's coming up in a few moments. 45 minutes after the hour.

it's a friday. there you go. 48 past the hour right now. we just got new news about when the president's going to make his statement. pushed back 30 minutes. now scheduled to make a statement at 9:30 eastern time this morning. about what, 40 minutes? >> just to be sure. wait another 30 minutes. just to be sure. the cap. >> exactly. bring it to you live. set for ten minutes from now, now it's 40 minutes from now. again, the president speaking about the latest progress in the oil spill, and he'll be doing that from the white house in

just about 40 minutes. now it's time for your "a.m. house call." we are excited about this. a personal one. our own dr. sanjay gupta taking a plunge into the hudson riv e, the very start of the new york city triathlon. >> joined by six "american morning" viewers and athletes training with him for six months. ready to answer your questions about the race. the first question is, so fitting. linda is racing to try this weekend, too, sanjay and se shed, throw it up there. this is my first triathlon and i'm extremely terrified of the swimming part as i just learned to swim in november. did we mention the fact this is in the hudson river? >> don't scare her more. >> any advice, sanjay? >> reporter: well, it's funny. linda wrote this e-mail. i bet it can come from any new triathlon. i've never done one before. i'm joined by our trainer helping us along.

swimming was something i hadn't done a lot of either. took lessons as a kid. it's important if you're going to do something like this, take a few lessons again as a adult. really good form and you taught me, somebody really nervous about swimming, maybe not doing a triathlon because of it, what do you tell them? >> practice is the way to go. open water swims before you come to the new york city triathlon. practice the open water swim as much as can you. completely different from the pool. good about the new york city, you have a current. facilitates one siting, you don't pull off course easily. a very fast swim. whatever your time is -- >> reporter: right down there. you wear a wet suit, which will be good. a little buoyancy. i hope that alleviates your worries. >> are you worried about the

weather on sunday, high of 94. you'll be out before the high temperatures of the day, but running a triathlon, taking part of one in july, that's a tall order. >> reporter: it's like a science experiment almost. i have to tell you, because i made mistakes along the last six months. with not hydrating enough. not eating enough food during the actual time i was training as well. you literally really have to pay attention to that and people forget. is there some equation you keep in your mind as far as how much you should be drinking or eating? >> each person is different. i usually drink one water bostian on my bike. the easiest time to take liquid in. not on the swim. on the bike, take in right away. one water bottle per hour. some need more. it's more testing and knowing what's right for you. >> reporter: i heards well, you never want to wait until you're thirsty. drink all along. a lot of water station s obviously during the run.

sunscreen. >> that's important. and pour water on your head when you're at an aid station on the run. it cools awe down and helps keep the temperature down. >> reporter: mixes nicely with all of that sweat. >> you won't mind that. >> reporter: it's an experience a lot of people, the hydration, the heat, so critical. >> important, an the electrolytes as well. you'll be sweating out a lot. >> reporter: are you nervous at all? >> no. i'm watching you this time. so -- >> reporter: makes me nervous. >> fully confident. >> sanjay, one thing is, too, when you first start the swim, everyone's running. they do it in little group, but you're running into the water getting kicked around right and left and have to power through that without letting it get the best of you. >> reporter: yes. a really -- we were just talking about that. you're right, kiran. people are going to be hitting you and -- elbows and kicks. you told me to actually drag the person down in front of you and -- >> don't say that. if it help us get ahead, you know -- it is what it is.

no. swimming in traffic is a contact sport. you normally don't get hit hard. there will be contact. if you can practice that, otherwise if it happen, just keep going. keep going. >> reporter: just expect it a little bit. >> yes. >> reporter: you could either jump in off this barge here or there's a rope set up over there. hang on to the rope and let go as soon as they hit the gun. we are on a moving barge. that's why cameras are moving around. this is where we start. a mile down that way. >> one final tip, all said and done when you get out of the hudson p hudson. a good shower. >> they've cleaned it up over the years. >> i will say, we did see a dead fish go through here. that was pointed out to me. >> it came frp way up river. very clean here. >> always optimistic. >> you know what happened? -- all right. sanjay, take care. >> very competitive fish in the hudson river. >> there you go.

needing home, the pets. overwhelming response from adorable animals that had to be sent to a shelter. owners couldn't afford them. everybody wants that little guy. look at that little guy. anyway, the money -- >> going for like $10,000 right now. >> really. we're going to have a matter warming update for you still ahead. ♪ you're the one

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well, you're going to want to hear this. it's incredible. animal shelters across the gulf have been overwhelmed. hundreds of pets aboon donned by owners who can no longer afford to care for them. collateral damage caused by the bp oil spill. there's starting to be a happy ending in all this. >> we first reported, randy kaye

out there, talking to people, what they would do to try to help those struggling and make a heart-wrenching decision to give up their pet. randi kaye has an update. you are the heroes of the week. take a look. >> reporter: after our story ran folks tell me they got hundreds of calls and e-mails from all over the country. in fact, from as far away as guam and hawaii looking to adopt some of the animals we featured in our story, which is really great news. including this guy right here. actually, this little girl. this is panda. that terrier i was holding during my story. a little shy, but she got the most calls from new york, colorado, wisconsin and texas. all over the place. but i do have to tell you, that she la not been officially adopted yet. panda, say hello. she is still officially available for adoption. but some dogs here did get to go home. they got new families today. you may recall the poodle who we showed you in our story. that poodle is silk, and you can

take a look there. you can see that's silk with her new owner. silk is 2 years odd and got to go home with her today. i want to do listen to how happy they sounded as they left the building today. >> baby boy, baby boy. that's my baby boy. baby boy -- baby boy. you going to see daddy in the truck, waiting on us. >> that's right. daddy was waiting for silk renamed pepper in the truck. that poodle wasn't the only lucky one. there was also a retriever mix named mocha featured in the story who also got to go home today way family, and also a beagle we want to show you named diamond. diamond has been here, and it turns out diamond's new owner, just came to adopt her today, the family, the mom, the wife in this family had seen diamond. she had seen our story while on